# Need help raising humidity.



## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Ever since my Xikar beads needed to be refilled my humidor wouldn't raise any higher then 44%. I asked the people at my local cigar shop and they told that my humidor wasn't full enough and the moisture was going into the wood and not the cigars. He told me I could buy another jar of beads or just buy more cigars, Iv done both. The humidity is now around 48%, should i reason my humidor??? Any advice would be appreciated.


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## jbrown287 (Aug 18, 2010)

My winodor was doing that when I first got the shelves and drawers. I put a container of DW in it and just let it suck up as much as it would. How long have you had your humi.? How did you season it?


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

jbrown287 said:


> My winodor was doing that when I first got the shelves and drawers. I put a container of DW in it and just let it suck up as much as it would. How long have you had your humi.? How did you season it?


I've had it atleast 5 months, and to season it I followed the instructions of wiping it down with distilled water until the sponge inside stayed moist.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

J.R. said:


> Ever since my Xikar beads needed to be refilled my humidor wouldn't raise any higher then 44%. I asked the people at my local cigar shop and they told that my humidor wasn't full enough and the moisture was going into the wood and not the cigars. He told me I could buy another jar of beads or just buy more cigars, Iv done both. The humidity is now around 48%, should i reason my humidor??? Any advice would be appreciated.


Sounds like he is an excellent salesman!
In light of recent threads, I will not try to change your humidification. Just know that there are other options that are commonly favored over the gel. How is the seal on your humi, if it was properly seasoned and has a tight seal then the rh should not have dropped so much and then not recovered.


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Zfog said:


> Sounds like he is an excellent salesman!
> In light of recent threads, I will not try to change your humidification. Just know that there are other options that are commonly favored over the gel. How is the seal on your humi, if it was properly seasoned and has a tight seal then the rh should not have dropped so much and then not recovered.


He's not that great I bought the cigars from a different guy lol.

The seal still seems good. I ended up wiping it down again, and now the humidity said 55% but the temp raised to 84F, and temp was never a problem.


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## Mr_Black (Dec 1, 2010)

silly question, but is your hydrometer reliable??


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## piperdown (Jul 19, 2009)

J.R. said:


> He's not that great I bought the cigars from a different guy lol.
> 
> The seal still seems good. I ended up wiping it down again, and now the humidity said 55% but the temp raised to 84F, and temp was never a problem.


Almost sounds like your hygrometer might be out of wack.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

I would honestly put your smokes in a tupperware while you reseason your humi. The rh prob only raised because you added rh via water. it will drop again.
http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...5096-how-herf-n-turf-seasons-new-humidor.html do this!

Is your hygrometer digital or analog?


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## jbrown287 (Aug 18, 2010)

J.R. said:


> He's not that great I bought the cigars from a different guy lol.
> 
> The seal still seems good. I ended up wiping it down again, and now the humidity said 55% but the temp raised to 84F, and temp was never a problem.


Is it sitting by a heat vent? 84*

Has the hygro been calibrated?


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## Josh Lucky 13 (Dec 23, 2010)

how was humidity holding before you messed with beads?


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Analog, I learned that lesson a long time ago. May have to look into replacing it...

But I know for sure the humidity was off because my cigars were getting hard to draw off.


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## Mr_Black (Dec 1, 2010)

hmmm, I would get a digital hydrometer ASAP and calibrate it with the salt test. I would do that all before doing anything drastic...


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## obleedo (Feb 4, 2010)

Its got to be the hygometer, i suggest investing in a boveda pack and start from there.


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

It's not near a haet vent its on my desk away form any vents.

I know I calibrated it but it's been so long. And the where fine before I refilled the beads.


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## Zfog (Oct 16, 2010)

I just would not trust that analog, there are few that are reliable. Even if you calibrated it to 75% it could have read wrong 5 minutes later.


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## Mr_Black (Dec 1, 2010)

J.R. said:


> It's not near a haet vent its on my desk away form any vents.
> 
> I know I calibrated it but it's been so long. And the where fine before I refilled the beads.


I have no faith in analog hydros, I have had a few go south on me.... Really fast at that too..


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## jbrown287 (Aug 18, 2010)

Are the wrappers on the cigar cracking any when you smoke them or when you feel them? Do you know what RH the xikar beads are suppose to maintain? How big is the humi?


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Oh no I meant I do have a digital analog. And they are not cracking yet.

I do have two more questions now though.

1) What is the salt test for analog?

2) In the how to season thread do you wipe the inside down with distilled water? The instructions told me to when I got the humi.

And it's suppose ti hold 50 cigars but with the bead container takes up some space.


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Stupid question but should I put one of the jars of beads in the tupperware with the smokes?


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## piperdown (Jul 19, 2009)

Salt test is the same for the digital and the analog.
Since your temp raised I was wondering if the battery might be going.
I'd put a new battery in it and run the salt test.

When I season a humi (only have had four) I wipe very lightly, make sure the beads are set and place a dish of DW in it for up to a week.
Still takes another week or so to settle down.

As most here have said (many other posts) you might look into either Heartfelt beads or kitty litter (depends on who you talk to).
I personnaly am not a fan of the Xikar crystal. Had it, had problems, switched to humidity beads, limited problems after that and all due to the time of year. Much easier to control humidity with the beads.


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## Mr_Black (Dec 1, 2010)

piperdown said:


> Salt test is the same for the digital and the analog.
> Since your temp raised I was wondering if the battery might be going.
> I'd put a new battery in it and run the salt test.
> 
> ...


Pretty much said all I was going to say.... lol Good Job!


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## J.R. (Feb 21, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the advice! My cigars are in a tupperware container with one of the jar of beads and I'll run the salt test over night and take it form there.


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## jbrown287 (Aug 18, 2010)

If it's a western caliber you are not suppose to salt test them. Just replace battery. I probably would go ahead and put a thing of the beads in with them. Some type of RH is better than no RH.


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